Google URL Shortener Alternatives and Impact

Google's URL Shortener was shut down in 2019, but its impact still lingers. The service was used by over 5 million users worldwide.

The shutdown had a significant impact on users who relied on the service for shortening and tracking URLs. Many users were left looking for alternative solutions.

One of the main reasons for the shutdown was the low usage of the service, with only 10% of users actively using it. This was likely due to the rise of other URL shortening services.

As a result, users turned to alternative services, such as Bit.ly and Rebrandly, which offered similar features and functionality.

You might like: Bit Ly Creator

Google URL Shortener was first launched in 2009 as goo.gl, and it was a popular service until it was shut down in 2019.

The service allowed users to shorten long URLs, making it easier to share links on social media, email, or text messages.

You could create a custom shortened link, such as goo.gl/abc123, that redirected to a longer URL.

This feature was especially useful for Twitter users, who had a character limit on their tweets.

Google URL Shortener provided detailed analytics on the performance of your shortened URLs, including the number of clicks and referrals.

You could also track the click-through rate (CTR) and conversion rates for your shortened URLs.

The service was integrated with Google Analytics, making it easy to track the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns.

Google URL Shortener was a free service, and it didn't require any setup or configuration.

You could simply create an account and start shortening URLs right away.

The service supported multiple languages and was accessible from anywhere in the world.

Google URL Shortener was a convenient tool for anyone who needed to share links online.

If this caught your attention, see: Bitly Url Shortener Api

Google's URL shortener, goo.gl, was launched in December 2009 and shut down in 2019, but existing links continued to work.

The service was discontinued for existing users on March 30, 2019, and Google announced that existing links would stop working on August 25, 2025, with the exception of goo.gl links generated via Google apps.

Over 1.3 million goo.gl URLs were archived by the Wayback Machine as of August 2025, and at least 4,000 URLs indexed by Google Scholar will be completely deprecated.

Google will display an interstitial page warning users that the link will no longer work in the near future, starting from August 23, 2024.

If you've previously used the Google URL Shortener to create goo.gl links, it's worth checking through your content to assess the impact, as the interstitial page could harm traffic.

The shutdown will affect 3.6 billion goo.gl links, and Google Maps and Google Business Profile links that use the goo.gl format will also be impacted.

Here are some alternative URL shorteners you can use instead of goo.gl links:

All goo.gl links will result in a 404 error page after August 25, 2025, removing all access to the URL and any redirect pointing to or from your site using a goo.gl link will stop working.

If you've previously used the Google URL Shortener to create goo.gl links, it's worth checking through your content to assess the impact. Over 3.6 billion links could be affected as the redirect engine shuts down.

The interstitial page, which will start to be visible from August 23, 2024, could harm traffic by putting visitors off before they even make it to your site. This page will roll out steadily, with more and more links showing the interstitial page ahead of the 2025 cut-off.

All goo.gl links will result in a 404 error page after the August 2025 date, removing all access to the URL, and any redirect pointing to or from your site using a goo.gl link will stop working. Google has also pulled the plug on its alternative URL shortener, Firebase Dynamic Links.

If you want to continue to simplify your links, you have several alternatives to consider. Here are our top recommendations: